With Every Heartbeat
by cklovewinter
Summary: Alek has been looking really tired and Chloe gets worried. She decides to take matters into her own hands and take care of him for a change.
1. Chapter 1

**Background information:** As we can see on the preview of episode 5 (SPOILERS!), Bryan's father orders him to go back to university and he actually does. Chloe is sad but gets over it. In the couple of months that follow, Chloe has been getting better at juggling school, work, friends and Mai training. She has been getting closer to Jasmine, who has been included in some girls' nights with Amy. Alek has been acting less like a jerk and is getting closer to Chloe and the others too.

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><p><strong>With Every Heartbeat<strong>

Chloe King was very worried about her protector. Alek had dark circles under his eyes and looked like he might collapse any second. From what Jasmine had told her, he had had a lot going on for him on the past few days, including keeping watch on her roof. Chloe was convinced he was in serious need of some rest and she knew exactly what to do so he could get it. When the bell rung, ending yet another torturous day at school, the blonde Mai found the perfect opportunity to put her elaborate plan in action. _Step 1: get him to her house_.

"Hey, Alek," Chloe greeted him, catching up to him on the way out of the school building.

"Hi, Chloe," he greeted back, still looking very much exhausted. "Do you need anything?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you could walk me home today."

"Yeah, sure. I can squeeze that in before I head for training with Valentina," he said.

"Thank you," she told him with a smile and they headed out towards her house.

The journey to the King's residence passed mostly in silence, since Alek didn't seem to have the energy to taunt Chloe at the moment. She couldn't help but look at him and feel sad that he had been neglecting himself this way. She also felt guilty knowing that part of it was her fault. He didn't sleep to assure that nothing would happen to her while _she_ was sleeping. It was a really sweet gesture if you stopped to think about it, but also really stupid if it got to the point when he could barely stay awake. That's exactly why her plan was so important; it would make sure he got some rest. Step 1 completed successfully, now on to _Step 2: get him inside the house and cooperative enough to agree with Step 3_.

"Do you want to come in for a second? You look like you could use something to drink," she said when they reached the stairs in front of her house.

"Sure, why not?" he agreed.

Once inside the house, Chloe went towards the kitchen and Alek followed behind her. "We have water, coke, juice and milk."

"Milk is fine, thank you."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," she taunted him, something she'd been getting better at due to spending more time with him. "I'll just warm it a bit and add some honey."

Chloe put some milk in two glasses, warmed the white liquid in the microwave and put some honey in it. She handed one glass to Alek and kept the other. When they finished, Alek looked even sleepier than before, which was exactly what Chloe needed to accomplish _Step 3: getting him into her bed_.

"Hum... This was nice, Chloe, but I really have to go. If you think Jasmine gets mad when you show up late for training, you should see Valentina's reaction when we're not on time," he said, shuddering at the thought of his aunt lecturing him.

"Just come upstairs with me for a second; I have something to show you in my room," she insisted and he agreed somewhat reluctantly. They went upstairs and entered her room.

"What exactly did you want to show me up here?"

"Can you give me your jacket, please?"

"What?"

"Just bear with me for a bit, will you?"

"Okay," he said, taking off his jacket and handing it to Chloe. "Now what?" he asked, obviously getting confused.

"Take off your shoes, please," she requested. He eyed her suspiciously but did as he was told. "Very good. Now lay down on the bed, please."

"Really, Chloe, if what you wanted was to get me into bed, all you had to do was ask. There is no need to make up excuses," he said smugly and shot her his trademark smirk.

"Shut up and do as I say!" she said so forcefully that he couldn't help but comply and lay down on his back, with his arms resting on his sides. With Step 3 of her plan completed, she could go on to _Step 4: convincing Alek to actually stay in bed and sleep_.

"What I wanted to show you up here was my bed, since it looks like it's been a few days since you've seen one," she stated as she sat on her bed, next to where his stomach was. "You've been on my roof for the past four nights, Alek. You can't keep doing this. I know you take your duties very seriously but you have to rest too," she added in a softer tone, putting one hand on his chest, over his heart, and using the other to comb his bangs out of his eyes, exactly how she'd been secretly craving to do since the night he looked over her mom for her.

"How do you know it was me on the roof and not Jasmine or another Mai?" Alek asked, putting both his hands over the one Chloe held over his heart, holding it there.

"I always know when it's you keeping watch on the roof," she confessed.

"And what gives me away?" he asked and she noticed how his accent sounded thicker and even more mouth-watering when he was sleepy.

"I'll tell you after you've had some sleep. You're not allowed to leave this room until you do," she started firmly.

"You're even more appealing when you try to boss me around, Chloe King," he teased her. "But seriously, Valentina will kill me if I miss our training session and what about your mom? She'll be cross with you if she sees me here."

"I'll call Valentina and tell her that I need your help with some defence training. And let me worry about my mom. I'll tell her as much about the truth as I can without revealing that we're Mai."

"Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. It's not fair how she keeps looking at you like you're a bad guy when you're actually keeping those away from me. You don't deserve her glares and I've let this go on for long enough without correcting her."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now go to sleep," she ordered playfully.

Chloe freed her right hand from both of his and removed her left one from his hair. She got up and went to her window to close its blinds, darkening the room a bit. She got a blanket from her wardrobe and covered her protector with it.

"Sleep tight, Alek," she whispered but no response came. Using her enhanced hearing, she checked on his breathing and heartbeat and found them to be even and peaceful. With Step 4 of her plan completed flawlessly, Chloe exited her bedroom to call the leader of the Mai in San Francisco. After that, she would still have time to rehearse what she would tell her mom.

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><p><strong>Author's note: Hey there! <strong>

**It's been quite a while since I've posted something here. I've been really busy now that I'm in college. Since I've started watching The Nine Lives of Chloe King the plot bunnies have been attacking me and now that I'm on holidays I actually have time to write something other than college papers :) Anyway, this will probably be a two or three-shot, depending on how long the rest gets. By the way, reviews make me really happy and inspire me to update sooner *hint*. **

**Love, Cari xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Background information:** As we can see on the preview of episode 5, Bryan's father orders him to go back to university and he leaves. Chloe is sad but gets over it. In the couple of months that follow, Chloe has been getting better at juggling school, work, friends and Mai training. She has been getting closer to Jasmine, who has been included in some girls' nights with Amy. Alek has been acting less like a jerk and is getting closer to Chloe and the others too.

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><p><strong>With Every Heartbeat<strong>

After leaving her room very quietly, Chloe called Valentina and asked if it was alright if Alek skipped that day's training session, claiming she needed his help to practice some defensive moves she'd been having some trouble on. They Mai leader promptly agreed, saying she could occupy her protector for as long as she deemed necessary to perfect her moves.

With that done, Chloe went over what she would say to her mom, trying to cover every detail so that she had no way to get suspicious. She knew she couldn't tell her mom the truth about the Mai and that Alek was her protector and had saved her more times than she could count, but she would make sure Meredith knew how good he really was.

The young Uniter was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn't hear her mother coming in until she was standing in front of her.

"Mom! You scared me!" she said startled.

"I'm sorry, kiddo, but I wasn't exactly quiet when I came in," Meredith replied, humour clear in her voice. "What had you so deep in thought?"

"It's just that I have to talk to you about something really important," Chloe started.

"Sounds serious," she said as she sat beside her daughter on the living room couch. "Go ahead, I'm all ears."

"Okay, I would like to start by telling you that I broke one of your rules today and that I'm sorry for it, but I promise it's for a good cause."

"Which rule are we talking about here?" the older woman asked.

"The one about no boys in my room while you're not at home," Chloe admitted.

"What good reason could you possibly have to disrespect this rule? And who was the boy?"

"It's Alek and he's still here. He's asleep in my bed," she said quickly.

"Chloe Elizabeth King, what am I going to do with you?" she asked rhetorically, visibly angry.

"Do you promise to let me finish before you freak out any further? By the time I'm done, you'll regret being mean to him."

"Go ahead, I'm waiting," she said, clearly doubting that anything Chloe said could change her mind about the boy that was resting in her daughter's bed.

"Do you remember that time when you found Alek in my room a couple of months ago?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"On that night when I was walking home, four guys came up to me and started messing with me. I was scared and didn't know what to do because they were all twice my size. My luck was that Alek was passing by and got rid of them. He walked me back here and offered to wait for you to get home since I was still a bit shaken up," she explained, completely making that part up but still sounding very convincing. "Oh, and he was on my bed because he's just that annoying," she added quickly.

"Oh kiddo, why didn't you tell me about any of this before? You must've been so scared!" she said as she took Chloe's hands in hers. "Now I feel so guilty for glaring at you friend every chance I got."

"Because I knew you'd be afraid to let me walk around alone again if I did, which would be pretty unpractical since you can't be with me all the time because you have to work," she said matter-of-factly.

"Has something like this happened again after that?"

"No, it hasn't because Alek always walks me home when it gets late. He's kind of protective." Which was entirely true. Chloe and Alek had been getting along fairly well and he had started to walk with her instead of just watching her from afar.

"That's really nice of him."

"It is, right?" She thought so too and enjoyed spending time with her fellow Mai. "And apart from that, Alek and Jasmine have been giving me self-defence lessons. That's why I stay out late sometimes, how I got to know the both of them better and how we became friends." Which was also completely true. "Did I mention that they're both karate black belts?"

"That's really impressive, Chloe, and I have to thank them both profusely for that but it still doesn't explain why he's asleep in your room."

"I noticed something was wrong with him when he fell asleep yesterday during Calculus, which happens to be his favourite subject. When I asked him about it he just said it was nothing. This morning he had black circles under his eyes. I knew that there would be no use in asking him about it, so I went to Jasmine. She told me that they have this really important basketball championship game on Friday and that their coach has been working them really hard. Apart from that we've been getting more schoolwork than usual. And if that weren't already enough, Valentina has increased their difficulty level in karate training. And he's been having trouble sleeping." Chloe was happy that most of what came out of her mouth was true, having to lie to her mom about being Mai was already hard enough.

"Poor dear! No wonder he is exhausted!"

"Yeah, so I asked him to walk me home after class, made him come in and put him to sleep. I'm sorry I broke your rule but I saw no other way to make him rest. I'm really worried about him, mom. He may still act like a jerk sometimes but he's been really good to me. I thought that I could take care of him for a change instead of the other way around."

"It's okay, kiddo, I understand. You're forgiven."

"Thanks, mom. I love you."

"Obviously implied," she said, squeezing Chloe's hands lightly. "Well, it's 5 now. Why don't we let him sleep for another hour and then invite him to have dinner with us?"

"I think that's a great idea and that you're the best mom ever!" she said enthusiastically, hugging her mom for effect. "I'll just check on Alek to see if he's okay and then I'll help you make diner."

"You really care about him, don't you?" she asked softly as Chloe started to get up from the couch.

"Yeah, he... he grows on you," she confessed.

Chloe made her way upstairs and stopped in front of her room. She opened the door as quietly as possible while monitoring Alek's breathing to make sure he wasn't waking up. She entered her room and closed the door silently behind her. Using her enhanced vision to see in the darkened room, she walked to her bed and looked at her protector. He looked so peaceful and innocent in his sleep. She couldn't remember a time where she'd seen him as unguarded as in that moment. In that instant, Chloe realized that she wanted to see him relaxed more often and that she was the reason he probably seldom was. His job was to guard her and she knew that she hardly ever made it easy on him. Deciding she would try to get in less trouble from then on, Chloe swiftly left the room to help her mom with diner.

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><p><strong>Author's note: Hey guys!<strong>

**First, I'd like to say that I'm so sorry for taking so long to update. In my defence, I was in China, spending time with my parents and brother I hadn't seen for four months, so you can't really blame me for not having time to write, can you?**

**Second, I totally resent how they portrayed Brazilians is episode 5. Being a Brazilian girl myself, I couldn't stand those two bimbos talking about Carnaval all the time. Carnaval is a holiday here that usually happens in February or March (40 days before Easter) just for a week, not the whole year. **

**Third, I'd like to thank all the people that put the story and myself on alert, put the story and myself on their favourites and especially for the overwhelming number of 28 people that reviewed the first chapter. You guys are all amazing and inspire me to write more. I'm already working on Chapter 3.**

**Wow, that was long. Sorry for that.**

**Love, Cari xx**


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